The other night Joe and I decided that we would try to make a “Mediterranean” style meal. We wanted it to be relatively easy and fresh – so we chose to prepare pita, hummus, & tabbouleh.

Pita seemed like it would be fairly easy to create.  We have experimented with a few different types of flat bread before, but this was our first attempt at making pita – it won’t be our last! Unfortunately, I would not say it was a great success this time; it was definitely edible and pretty good, but not quite good enough to share the internet recipe that we followed with you. However, it turned out to be a great meal anyway as the improv Hummus and Tabbouleh made up for it!

Hummus is a pretty easy dip to figure out; the basic ingredients are chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, oil, & salt.  It seems like a welcoming palette for additional flavors.  We added a few things to the mix.

Hummus Ingredients ::

2 cans chick peas
1 cup edamame
3-4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeño
1/3 cup tahini
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup olive oil
2 lemons
water to thin

• Use a blender to combine the ingredients.  Chop and seed the jalapeño before blending, include seeds if you want more heat.  If the mixture is too thick add a small amount of water to thin out to the desired consistency.  You can also choose to add more lemon or oil but be sure to taste it as you add more flavor (and liquid).  Taste as you go; make it as spicy, as salty, or as sour as you like it! Use our recipe as a guide.

Basic ingredients of tabbouleh include – bulgur, parsley, mint, tomato, oil, & lemon.  It doesn’t seem too difficult to make that combination taste good right?  This would be our first experience of working with bulgur.  Here is the mixture we came up with.

Tabbouleh Ingredients ::

½ cup dry bulgur wheat
1 cup or 1 bundle chopped cilantro
½+ cup mint
3 garlic cloves
2 cucumbers diced (1 ½ cups)
3 plum tomatoes diced (1+ cup)
1 lemon juiced (3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

• Boil 1 cup of water and add a ½ cup of dry bulgur wheat, cover and steep for about a half hour.  In the meantime, finely chop the cilantro & mint, crush the garlic, and carefully dice the tomato & cucumber.  Once bulgar is soft, drain excess water. In a large bowl combine all ingredients and mix.

• You can use the tabbouleh and hummus in many ways; we assembled this meal as an open faced sandwich, layering each on top of the pita.  Of course it’s always great as a dip or stuffed into a pocket pita.  Also, FYI – Joe made an omelet with leftover tabbouleh in the morning!  More possibilities to be discovered… enjoy.